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Crassulaceae
Houseleek
Sempervivum tectorum
Welcome home, vivacity, eternal life.
- Family
- Crassulaceae
- Genus
- Sempervivum
- Native to
- Mountains of southern and central Europe
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- Evergreen succulent
- Height
- 10–30 cm in flower
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Sharply drained, gritty
- Water
- Very low; drought-tolerant
- Hardiness
- 3–11
- Lifespan
- Individual rosettes flower once and die; offsets continue indefinitely
Did you know
- Houseleeks are also called 'hen and chicks' because the parent rosette (the hen) produces dozens of smaller offset rosettes (the chicks) in tight clumps around it.
- The name 'sempervivum' means 'always living' in Latin — and indeed, the plants seem indestructible, surviving on roof tiles, rocks, and gravel for decades.
- In medieval Europe, sempervivum was planted on thatched roofs to ward off lightning strikes, fires, and witches — the Roman emperor Charlemagne actually decreed it by law in 800 AD.
- Each rosette is monocarpic — it flowers only once in its life and then dies — but the offsets it produces carry on the colony.
- The thick fleshy leaves contain a soothing gel similar to aloe and were used as a folk remedy for burns, insect stings, and skin irritations.
Color meanings
Pink
Quiet permanence